Exploring criticality in management education : to be critical or not to be critical is the question

This research explores how criticality is perceived, experienced and translated
into the everyday practices of critical management educators. Fifteen semi-
structured interviews and two observations of practice of key scholars in the field
were conducted to answer the following research questions I) What factors have
contributed to the adoption of this management philosophy by critical
management educators? 2) How is criticality perceived by critical management
educators? 3) How does this alternative management philosophy translate into the
professional practice of critical management educators? When we question what
and how we teach it has the potential to open up new questions to be explored and
insights to be revealed. This research has exposed a side of management
education that is ever present in the philosophy and practice of critical educators.
The research found that there was a common theme about criticality relating to
questioning taken for granted assumptions about management and its practices.
However, distinctions were made between those whose interests where more
theoretically, politically or practically oriented. From the findings two critical
educator types emerged. These were the critical experientialists and the critical
traditionalists. The results of the study revealed that a) critical educators are
oriented towards either the content or process of their practice b) the educators
who focused more on the process of their practice used action learning as a
teaching methodology c) some of the challenges of teaching in this way are to be
expected and part of the learning process d) the role of the tutor is paramount in
creating the environment both conceptually and physically where critical learning
can evolve. This research has provided an understanding of the critical classroom
with different educators' backgrounds, conditions of practice and perceptions. In
the context of current debates in the field of business such an exploration is both
timely and relevant for today's educators, students, managers and ultimately
society.